diphtheria
in the most deadly form broke out amongst the Indians and half-breeds,
who were being mowed down like corn before the scythe. Corporal Smith,
though stationed there for ordinary duty, did not hesitate a moment in
facing the situation and going into a fight against these violent twin
epidemics. He looked after the sick with the tenderness of a nurse, he
comforted the dying, he buried the dead when even relatives shrank from
the duty, and by strong disinfectants he sought to clean the huts and
tents of the poisonous germs. There was no glamour of war to lure him
on, no crashing of music, no cheers of comrades, for he was alone. It
was just a grim, determined, silent fight, in which he knew he might
fall at any moment himself, and there was no one to tell of deeds that
were worthy of the Victoria Cross. But he fought the plagues to a
finish. And it is good to know that when the story of it all leaked out
and got to the ears of the authorities the Corporal got an additional
stripe in recognition of his valorous work.

Or take a later case, where one Sergeant Field away in the bitter North
at Fort Chippewyan received word that an Indian had gone insane and
dangerous some 300 miles away at another post. Field had just returned
from a hard patrol and his dogs were fagged. Field was an experienced
man and knew the danger, as he was tired out himself. But he hired a
fresh team of dogs and started out. The Indian madman was hard to
handle, for he was violent and strong. Field had to tie him on the
sleigh, but of course had to release him at times for fear he would
freeze. On these occasions the lunatic would fight like a wolf and make
attempts to get away. It would have been easy to let him get away and be
lost in some night blizzard in the wilderness. But that was not the
Police way, and in due course the unfortunate creature was landed safely
at Fort Saskatchewan and given a chance to recover under new conditions.

When occasion required, the red-coated men could be firm enough, as all
law-breakers found to their sorrow, but there is something amazing in
the way in which these policemen risked and lost their lives at times in
making arrests rather than shoot the Indians they were sent to bring in.
In a most marked degree the police kept to the faith that they were come
to save human lives rather than destroy them. In this connection and
throwing in some incidents as above to illustrate our points, we think
of the ca